In the Heat of the Moment
by Caprican
Summary: Here lies the lemony center of Ch. 12 of "A Punishment to Fit the Crime". If you haven't read that this will make little sense so be sure to check that out first!


**A/N: This is the chapter with the lemony goodness for A Punishment to Fit the Crime! If you have not read it, you will most likely be lost. Please check it out and let me know what you think!**

**Thanks!**

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Harry's blood ran cold as he felt his wand slip from his hand and fly into the waiting hand of a tall snatcher with stubble and horrible yellow teeth and eyes. He struggled against the binds as he watched another snatcher pull back hard on Hermione's hair and push his wand into her neck forcefully dragging her across the tiny space from him. A surge of anger flowed through him as the echoes of Hermione's fear rush to him through the bond; weaker than it should have been due to the lack of contact they had had over the past few months, but still undoubtedly there.

The man's hands roamed inappropriately over Hermione's curves and his scraggly hair drifted onto her neck as he sniffed her revoltingly. "Look at this one Rick? Is this the mudblood that he is supposed to be on the run with? She is _fetching _for such a dirty whore."

"You take your hands off her," Harry growled straining hard enough that a young snatcher holding him redoubled his efforts and gave him an extra jab in the throat for good measure.

"Oh ho! You think you are in any position to make demands?" The leader, presumably Rick, said pointing both Harry's and his own wand at the-Boy-Who-Lived's chest.

Harry glared, trying to fathom the power that was pounding through the now open bond with Hermione. She looked across at him with wide eyes, begging him to stand down with her eyes.

"Potter, Potter, Potter. Didn't your filthy mother teach you not to try your superiors, oh wait...she got what she deserved didn't she!"

"I saw that filthy whore once!" the one holding Hermione said. "If I were the Dark Lord, I would've done more than killed her."

"Shut up!"

The three snatchers laughed at Harry's continued struggles causing him to nearly take the final step over the edge of absolute rage. With the flick of his wrist, Rick turned on Hermione snarling as the word _Crucio_ left his lips.

Suddenly the power that had been gurgling deep inside of Harry came coursing into his system riding the waves of Hermione's screams. Everything around him seemed to disappear like a cloud of smoke and all he could feel was his soul beating in tandem with his soul-bound friend and wife as her heart fought erratically to keep pumping the vicious cycle of pain through her body. He could feel their collective power pooling in him and as if someone had flicked a switch, the advantage switched hands. The same giddy feeling of invincibility that had filled him when he had swallowed _Felix __Felicis _a year prior filled him once more and he knew just what to do

Instantly the ropes tying them disintegrated into sand and Harry could feel all of the hair on his body rise as the raw wild power took hold of him.

The snatchers all stopped and looked around at him in panic. Rick threw down Harry's wand and tried to diapperate to get away, only to be met by a slow laugh as they were easily blocked and thrown to the ground. The other two began firing hexes at him while trying to scramble toward the door, too afraid to shoot anything unforgivable in his direction for fear of having it rebound and kill them instead. They weren't looking to capture any longer, but rather to flee. But Harry had no intention of letting them go. Their feeble attempts fizzled out before they could even reach him like one firing a cap gun at an elephant.

It was no use.

They were his.

A small smirk spread across Harry's lips as he felt the power of his love for Hermione in a true and tangible sense. The warmth of it was boiling in him fueled by a righteous rage that chipped away at his normally rock solid control almost like it used to when he was young and untrained, yet more enormous than anything he had ever felt before. Part of him knew that he should be afraid, but all he felt was a calm sense of determination to end a threat to the life of the one he loved, to save his other half.

To save Hermione.

Sensing the uselessness of their magical attempts, Rick grabbed the other two by the collars and yanked them towards the door. He pulled futilely on the handle tapping his wand against the cheep metal. Behind him, the other simply moved slowly back, their faces wide with terror. Rick turned as the other two bumped into him and opened his mouth to beg.

Not a word left the man's lips.

With the snap of his fingers, the necks of all of the snatchers snapped simultaneously, a look of utter terror on their faces as they fell heavily to the worn carpet. A second snap banished the bodies somewhere that was away, but he couldn't be bothered to care where they went. Hermione was safe and the threat was nullified. A soft cloud of dust lingered in their absence slowly drifting to the floor below leaving nothing but their wands and a deadly stillness behind.

Harry slumped to the floor, his breath coming in hard and ragged. The power left as quickly as it had come snapping back into Hermione like a rubber band.

Suddenly, the jaggedness of the unfulfilled bond spread through him cutting through him unevenly like a dull serrated knife. The rawness was worse than it had ever been and he knew there was only one way to soothe the ache. They should move on and set up camp somewhere else lest someone else come to try and snatch them up. He knew that Hermione was probably terrified that he had just wandlessly taken the lives—_lives—_of three people and vanished them with less than a thought. He knew.

But those things didn't seem to matter anymore.

With shaking hands, he picked up his wand and set the protection spells once more before tossing it aside and crossing the room to his bond-mate. Her brown eyes were wide with shock at the blazing fire behind his green eyes, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to care. She could be scared later. They could talk about it later, right now all that mattered was the overwhelming need he had to be close to her—touch her and complete the bond.

Roughly he pulled her into a deep kiss, their tongues dancing together as their pulses spiked. The stubble of Harry's days growth of beard scratched across Hermione's face, probably rubbing her raw in the process, but she didn't seem to mind as her lips tore at his with the same desperation. He could sense her fear in every touch, of his tongue. He could almost hear her thinking the timing was off, that she wanted it to be special and not like this. Harry could feel it, but he didn't pay any of it heed. This would be his decision. This would be his move, the final step _he_ was choosing to make.

The only one that she had left him when she accidentally took the power of choice with the soul bond.

Hermione knew. She felt the need as deeply as he did, so when his hands traveled to her shirt and began furiously ripping at the buttons to expose her chest, she reciprocated in turn, tearing at his thick green Weasley sweater and pulling it over his head to expose his burning flesh. Harry didn't even bother to take off the woolen skirt she was wearing after removing her bra, instead just hoisting it up to her waist choosing to struggle with her underwear instead as she tugged at the belt of his jeans. He could feel himself straining against the confines of his boxers as his pants dropped and he kicked them off violently finally managing to pull of Hermione's underwear. He needed her, and he needed her now.

With a swift movement, Harry picked her up, smashing his mouth to hers once more and slamming her back against the wall with a little more force than he had intended. He felt slightly guilty when she winced, but the heat of her wet center against the front of his boxers pushed the thought from his mind. Her legs hooked behind his back and he let go of her naked bum just long enough to release himself from his boxers. She leaned forward, arching toward him as he hung poised at her entrance. He wanted her to beg for it as he teased her but the feeling was too enticing.

Thrusting forward, he pulled her down onto him crying out as he felt her warmth enveloped him almost causing his knees to buckle. From her sudden cry, he could tell that he had probably hurt her as she stretched to accommodate his length, but the anger and frustration that had been building up since the previous year was too demanding. A part of him could not fight the awesome feeling of power he had over her as he pinned her against the wall. It was dizzying and all he could think about was getting more. He pulled at her lips with his teeth begging for the submission which she willingly gave.

She was his and this was long overdue.

Finally he pulled back, pinning her with his green gaze as they moved as one. Her brown eyes shown almost black with excitement. She was so beautiful. Her lips were bright red, almost bruised from their intense kiss and he cheeks were flushed a lovely shade of pink. She was not the flawless beauty that Harry had spent the majority of his youth ogling. Rather, she was everything he had never imagined he had always wanted; soft and firm, strong and kind, beautiful and brilliant. For the first time he felt lucky that she had done that stupid spell so long ago. He felt honored to have such a exquisite creature as his own forever. Sure, the anger and resentment over her deception was still there driving them apart, but he was beginning understand.

The lights in the room began to flicker on and off as the hum of electricity matched the pounding of their hearts. The bulbs in the lamps began to pop violently and Harry could swear, looking back, he smelled the smoke from the small television set as it too burnt out with the force of finally completing the bond. Magic filled the room crackling and hot against their skin. The pressure of her hold on him heightening and Harry felt the tension building almost painfully.

Crying out, her eye contact broke from his and Hermione threw her head back, her nails biting into the skin of her back as she pulsed around him. His world exploded and Harry fought to hold himself up against the power of his release. Slowly their arms snaked around one another and they slid down the wall and onto the floor with a soft thump.

The lingering smell of change mingled with the strong scent of sex as they held one another and tried to digest what had just happened. In the past hour and a half, they had decided to infiltrate Malfoy Manor, been attacked by snatchers, killed them, and completed the bond. A small voice in the back of Harry's head that sounded an awful lot like Hermione told him that he should be reeling from the events, he should be moody and seething and brooding.

But as he gathered a sleeping Hermione into his arms and lifted her into the bed, taking car to banish the small shards of glass from the decimated light fixtures, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of peacefulness settle over him. Tomorrow he would deal with all that had happened.

For now, he would bask in on of the few and far between moments of peace.

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